Mental Health and Well-

Being of College Students

of Color

Raquel Rice

Honors Thesis, Lee Honors College

Western Michigan University

Presentation Overview

BackgroundQuantitative

Results

Healthy Minds Study (HMS)

Overview

Qualitative Results

Focus Group Overview

Methodology

Thematic MapOverview of

ThemesDiscussion

References

Background

Mental Health Needs on College Campuses

Growing Diversity Among Student Body

Mental Health of College Students of Color

Utilization of Mental Health Services for Students of Color

QUANTITATIVE RESULTS

Data gathered from Healthy

Minds Study in Spring 2018

Healthy Minds Study (HMS)

WHAT IS HMS?-RESEARCH PROGRAM

-COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AROUND COUNTRY

-MULTIPLE COMPONENTS OF MENTAL HEALTH

WMU’S INVOLVEMENT

-SPRING 2018

-SPRING OF 2021

RESULTS

-WMU IN COMPARISON TO NATIONAL AVERAGES

Data gathered from a focus group at WMU

Qualitative Data

Focus Group

• 5 of 6 Students of Color

• All identified as women

• Undergraduate and Graduate

6 WMU Students

• Mental Health at WMU

• Leadership

• Campus Climate

• Support for Students of Color

Questions

• The Steve Fund & JED Foundation

• 10 Strategies to support students of color on campus

• Dr. Jan Collins Eaglin

Equity In Mental Health Framework (EMHF)

Methods Thematic Analysis

• Familiarization with data

• Generate initial codes

• Search for themes

• Review

• Define and Name

• Produce report

(Braun and Clarke, 2006)

Our Data Analysis Process

• 2 researchers

• Familiarization with transcription multiple times

• Create/edit/review themes repeatedly

• Virtual meetings to do consensus

• Produce report

WMU Administration and

Campus Culture

Theme:

Less Talk, More Action

Subthemes:

Administration Overall

University President

Need for Organizational Change

Theme:

Advocacy Fatigue

Subthemes:

Frustration

Run-Around

Students Take Lead

Participant Quotes“WMU promotes diversity. But if you look at where the funding is being allocated, if you look at how many faculty members are not White, if you look at students’ evaluation, their experiences with racism and their mental health, it doesn't align.” (Administration Overall)

“I know the President sends out…emails regarding diversity and inclusion, but at the same time there's nothing still being done by him. You could send out as many emails as you want, but if no action is taking place. Then why keep sending out emails saying that we're diverse and we don’t feel like we're diverse.” (University President)

“At the end, it just makes me feel hopeless, like, okay, well, I'm here for the next four years but am I really going to see any change while I'm here?” (Frustration)

“The administration is telling me to seek support from faculty, and faculty is telling me to seek support from the administration. So, who do I go to?” (Run-Around)

WMU Administration and Campus Culture

Continued

Theme:

Promotion of Student Events and Mental Health Awareness

Subthemes:

Student Events

Mental Health Awareness

Theme:

University and Student Initiatives

Subthemes:

Student Initiated

University Initiated

Participant Quotes

“If you look at all of the activities that that office puts out, it's basically geared toward one type of student and it's not minority students. At least the way I look at it, it's kind of like why would I ever participate in something that has nothing to do with my interests. Again, as a Hispanic female, whether or not I would be American, it still doesn't align with any of my interests.” (Student Events)

In reference to Racial Justice Advisory Committee: “dealing with discrimination or any issues like that with non-White people, but it could also help to create a more open and welcoming community towards people of color.” (University Initiated)

Experiences with Diversity & Inclusion

Theme:

Lack of Multicultural Competency

Subthemes:

Faculty and Classroom Experiences

Counseling Services Staff

Multicultural Training

Theme:

Stereotypes/Microaggressions

Subtheme:

Cultural Bias

Participant Quotes

“I also had another situation where a professor was not trained and did not know how to facilitate a conversation on racism. There were white students. There were Black students. There were Latino students. It was like the class was split, White people versus non-White people, because White people kept questioning why we felt the way we did. At the end the professor asked me, she has a PhD and she asked me how do I facilitate a conversation about race. I'm just looking at her very shocked because it was my first year in the program. I'm looking at her like I cannot believe you're not trained to do this. But this is an issue that may be the case in many situations where faculty are just not trained to work with students who are non-White.”(Faculty and Classroom Experiences)

“Especially, being like a person of color, they don’t understand the same situations that you’re going through such as navigating through college.” (Counseling Services Staff)

“I felt that being an international student it was more I got a lot of backlash and a lot of personal comments that were very inappropriate. Kind of like many times I didn't feel that I was being treated as an individual. I was just being treated as a stereotype” (Stereotypes/Microaggressions)

Experiences with Diversity & Inclusion

Continued

Theme:

Cultural Accommodation

Subthemes:

White Majority Culture

Need for Inclusion

Theme:

Cultural/Family Influence and Bias

Participant Quotes

“just because I have my culture, because I'm here, does that mean that I have to give up who I am in order to fit in and align with the parameters that are set here for the majority.” (White Majority Culture)

“Am I just here because you want diversity and inclusion, because you want somebody of color to be sitting at your meetings, or is it because you really care about my own opinion and my own background? Is it just because I'm a person of color?” (Need for Inclusion)

“I told my aunt, oh, I have a lot of anxiety and it's hard for me to sleep at night. Her response was, oh, anxiety, that's for White people.” (Cultural/Family Influence & Bias)

Accessibility & Utilization of

Counseling Services

Theme:

Accessibility of Counseling Services

Subthemes:Free CounselingFinancial Assistance

Theme:

Utilization of Counseling Services

Subthemes:Representation in StaffStudents of Color Using Services Less OftenPositive ExperiencesFaculty Encouragement

Participant Quotes

“one of the benefits that I have as a student at my university is that they give free sessions [of counseling] …that helps me in terms of having no financial strain. That actually encourages me to utilize their services.” (Free Counseling)

“When I first went to therapy at Sindecuse, I remember looking at all of the therapists available. There was only one black therapist and the rest were White. That was definitely a worry just because from previous experience my collectivist culture values don't align with someone who may have an individualistic outlook.” (Representation in Staff)

“For people of color I will say we kind of really don't take advantage of the counseling services at WMU as supposed to other races taking advantage of it. I feel like that's something that we, as people of color, need to take more advantage of because mental health is definitely important” (Students of Color Using Services Less)

“I have heard that the counseling does work at WMU and it does help out students in a lot of ways … I say that's a very beneficial thing to use at WMU.” (Positive Experiences)

Practical Student

Suggestions

Theme:

Creating a Sense of Community

Participant Quotes:

“I think another part of the whole mental health is creating a sense of community… a community where you feel welcome, regardless of who you are or where you come from, I think that will be very beneficial to talk about mental healthand not be afraid to not be so stigmatized.”

Theme:

Other Suggestions

Participant Suggestions:

• Modules on mental health

• Regular mental health check ins for students

• Promotion of mental health information for minority students

Discussion

Limitations

• Participants

• All Women

• Only 6

• Not a random sample

• Email Invitation

• Students already concerned with mental health on campus

Recommendations

Visible Action

Mental Health Promotion

Events for Students of Color

Continuous and Updated Multicultural Training for Staff and Faculty

Create a Sense of Community

Modules on Mental Health

Mental Health Check-in’s

Recommendations

Identify Areas of High Need Among Students

• Asian/Asian American and Black Students

• Higher anxiety and depression

• Lower utilization of services

• Asian/Asian American and Arab/Arab American Students

• High rates of perceived stigma

• Utilized services much less than white counterparts

Recommendations

Identify Students Who are Utilizing Services at Higher Rates

• Native American Students• Very high perceived stigma• Utilization of services at high

rates• Hispanic Students

• Similar rates of anxiety, depression, and perceived stigma

• Therapy at higher rates• Medication at similar rates to

national averages

Questions&

Responses

References

• Albright, J. N. & Hurd, N. M. (2018). Constellations of social support among underrepresented college students: Associations with mental health. Applied Developmental Science, 22:4, 258-

269. DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2017.1287568

• Attride-Stirling, J. (2001). Thematic networks: An analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 1(385), 385-405. http://qrj.sagepub.com/content/1/3/385.

• Banks, B. M. (2018). University mental health outreach targeting students of color. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy 1(34), 78-86. DOI: 10.1080/87568225.2018.1539632

• Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101. https://www.QualResearchPsych.com

• Gummadam, P., Pittman, L.D., & Ioffe, M. (2016). School belonging, ethnic identity, and psychological adjustment among ethnic minority college students. The Journal of Experimental

Education, 84(2), 289-306. DOI:10.1080/00220973.2015.1048844

• Healthy Minds Network. (2021). Healthy Minds Network: Research on Adolescent and Young Adult Mental Health. Healthymindsnetwork.org/about/

• Jordan, P., Shedden-Mora, M. C., & Lowe, B. (2017). Psychometric analysis of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAE-7) in primary care using modern item response theory. PloS one,

12(8). E0182162. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182162

• Kam, B., Mendoza, H., & Masuda, A. (2019). Mental health help-seeking experience and attitudes in Latina/o American, Asian American, Black American, and White American college

students. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 41, 492-508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-018-9365-8

References

• Korenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & William, J. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613.

https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x

• Lipson, S.K., Kern, A., Eisenberg, D., & Breland-Noble, A.M. (2018). Mental health disparities among college students of color. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63, 348-356.

• Morgan, J. F., Reid, F., & Lacey, J. H. (2000). The SCOFF questionnaire: A new screening tool for eating disorders. The Western Journal of Medicine, 172(3), 164-165.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ewjm.172.3.164

• National Center for Education Statistics. (2019, February). Indicator 23: Postsecondary Graduation Rates. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_red.asp

• Pedersen, E. R., & Paves, A. P. (2014). Comparing perceived public stigma and personal stigma of mental health treatment seeking in a young adult sample. Psychiatry Research, 219(1), 143-

150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.05.017

• Sanchez, D., Adams, W. N., Arango, S. C., & Flannigan, A. E. (2018). Racial-Ethnic microaggressions, coping strategies, and mental health in Asian American and Latinx American college

students: A mediation model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(2), 214-225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000249

• Schmidt, C. K., Piontkowski, s., Raque-Bogdan, T.L., & Ziemer, K. S. (2014). Relational health, ethnic identity, and well-being of college students of color: A strengths-based perspective. The

Counseling Psychologist, 42(4), 473-496. DOI: 10.1177/0011000014523796

References

• Smith, K. M., Chesin, M. S., & Jeglic, E. L. (2014). Minority college student mental health: Does majority status

matter? Implication for college counseling services. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 42,

77-92. DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-1912.2014.0046.x

• The Healthy Minds Study (HMS). (2018-2019). The Healthy Minds Study (HMS): Questionnaire Modules and

Survey Endings.https://healthymindsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/HMS-Codebook-2018-2019.pdf

• The Steve Fund & JED Foundation. (2018). The Equity in Mental Health Framework.

https://equitymentalhealth.org